July 28, 2025

1) New Board Members – Missouri Governor Mike Kehoe recently appointed two new members to SEMO’s Board of Governors. We are pleased to welcome Sarah Chapman, of Auxvasse, as the student representative to the Board. Sarah is a double major in English and music. We are also pleased to welcome Jeff Davis, of Wardsville, to the Board. Jeff is the executive director of government affairs for BNSF Railway, a ’94 SEMO alum, and past president of the SEMO Alumni Association. Sarah and Jeff assume the expired appointments of Clayton Eftink and Tina Klocke, respectively. Thank you, Clayton and Tina, for your service to SEMO.

2) Congratulations – It’s been a very good week for our students. A team of SEMO accounting and finance students ranked in the top five of the Conference of State Bank Supervisors Community Bank Case Study Competition. Also, six SEMO student-athletes earned Intercollegiate Tennis Association Scholar-Athlete honors for the 2025 season, and SEMO Volleyball received the 2025 American Volleyball Coaches Association Team Academic Award. Congratulations to all our Redhawks, and well done on representing the University.

3) Seeking SEMO Grads – I recently visited with several major employers in St. Louis, and I wanted to share the excitement they have about our programs and our students. I have mentioned SEMO’s great reputation across the state, and I think sometimes we can miss that in our day-to-day work on campus. So, please know that I heard repeatedly from firms who hire grads from large universities coast to coast, that they value our students and our programs in fields like drones, geospatial information systems, ag tech, computer science, professional pilot, STEM, and many more. We are an economic engine for the region, and we support our students with experience-driven education that opens doors. I see it. Employers see it. And, I hope it’s something you are very proud of.

Until next time, go Redhawks!